Metal Asylum's Top Albums Of 2021
Rich Catino's Top 20
Jack Mangan's Top 25
Rich Catino:
1) Helloween – Helloween
2. Warrior Path – The Mad King
3. Flotsam And Jetsam - Blood In The Water
4. Rhapsody Of Fire - Glory For Salvation
5. Dee Snider – Leave A Scar
6. Midnight Spell – Sky Destroyer
7. Hitten - Triumph & Tragedy
8. Burning Witches – The Witch of the North
9. Portrait - At One with None
10. Brothers In Arms - Sunset and Clark
11. Vulture - Dealin' Death
12. Crazy Lixx – Street Lethal
13. KK's Priest - Sermons Of The Sinner
14. Dangerous Curves – Summertime Highs
15. Todd La Torre - Rejoice in the Suffering
16. Eclipse – Wired
17. Evergrey - Escape of the Phoenix
18. Accept – Too Mean To Die
19. Rage – Resurrection Day
20. Lycanthro – Mark of the Wolf
Since there is never enough time to review everything I want to, or maybe it didn’t get posted, might as well include some album honorable mentions that didn’t make my twenty.
Northtale – Eternal Flame and Bloodbound - Creatures of the Dark Realm is power metal done right, Manimal – Armageddon, power metal with balls.
Running Wild - Blood on Blood is decent but still guitarist/singer/songwriter Ralf Kasparek can't recapture the magic pre 2002, understandably.
Bodom After Midnight - Paint the Sky with Blood (EP) black metal meets Children of Bodom, Alexi Laiho you will be missed.
Artillery – X Danish thrashers tenth album.
Live albums:
Destruction – Live Attack,
Gamma Ray - 30 Years Live Anniversary, and
Armored Saint - Symbol of Salvation.
Disappointments from 2021:
Beast in Black - Dark Connection. Damn, this one hurt because I picked the previous album "From Hell With Love" in 2019 as record of the year. With the exception of two or three songs I checked out. Now the keyboards have gone all either cheesy video game or dance beats. Hopefully the album is just a misstep because I thought they were one of the leaders of power metal, set apart from nonsense like Dragonforce, Gloryhammer, Twilight Force, and Victorious.
Powerwolf - Call of the Wild. Being a horror and monster movie fan I dig the wolves artistic direction, but the music has way too much sameness every song. I can pick a couple, maybe a few, from each album I like.But overall every album arrangements have the same delivery and vocal hook.
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu. Ugh, it’s a disappointment. One of my all time favorite bands, and everything after Brave New World I like a few songs on each album that I go back to. Problem for me is Steve Harris has got Maiden in this rut of each album cluttered by the majority of songs with beginnings that either build too long, too mellow, and take forever to get to the point. Or overall too long of an arrangement. But think my biggest problem is songs lack that great heavy catchy Maiden riff. Simplicity.. Even the classic epics from the 80s had their peeks and valleys without overdoing it. And I also don’t like the constant linear twin guitar melody and Dickinson’s vocal always follow each other. Very redundant. And what is it with the production? It’s not bad music or songs, it’s just not the Maiden I want. I know, they are older, they changed after BNW, a different Maiden. Or maybe just in a formula?
My hopes for 2022:
Hard rock and heavy metal fans will start to support the bands from the new generation like they do the legacy names. If the majority of the fans continue to live in the past this music is going to die like a dinosaur, and only remembered for its past. It is important for the music to move forward while retaining all that we love from the past. The new bands needs your support.
So you don't know where to start, need names?
80s Hard Rock/Glam Metal: Crazy Lixx, H.E.A.T., Eclipse, Girish and the Chronicles, Bloody Heels, Midnight City, Crashdiet, Dangerous Curves, Kissin Dynamite.
New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal/Power: Night Demon, Enforcer, Striker, Skullfist, Ambush, Burning Witches, Portrait, Haunt, Roadwolf, Eternal Champion, Warrior Path.
Thrash/Speed Metal: Evil Invaders, Vulture, Havok, Suicidal Angels, Warbringer.
Jack Mangan:
1. Vintage Caravan - Monuments
2. Ningen Isu - Kuraku
3. Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra - Songs For the Apocalypse
4. Helloween - Helloween
5. Gojira - Amazonia
6. Shumaun - Memories and Intuition
7. Sinoptik - The Calling
8. Helstar - Clad in Black
9. Smith/Kotzen - Smith/Kotzen
10. Fortress - Don’t Spare the Wicked
11. Evergrey - Escape of the Phoenix
12. Liquid Tension Experiment - LTE3
13. Lost Symphony - Chapter III
14. Sullen - Nodus Tollens - Act 1: Oblivion
15. Enforced - Kill Grid
16. Mastodon - Hushed and Grim
17. Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
18. Witherfall - Curse of Autumn
19. Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers
20. NMB - Innocence and Danger
21. Flotsam and Jetsam - Blood in the Water
22. Brothers in Arms - Sunset and Clark
23. Converge and Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I
24. Todd LaTorre - Rejoice in the Suffering
25. Comatose - A Way Back
Honorable mentions (EPs, Rereleases, Covers, Heavy Non-Metal albums, books):
Beatallica - The Devolver Album (parodies, tributes)
Devin Townsend - Devolution series (live)
Devin Townsend - Snuggles (not Metal)
Devin Townsend - The Puzzle (not Metal)
Anneke van Giersbergen - The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest (not Metal)
Gary Numan - Intruder (not Metal)
Hookers and Blow - Hookers and Blow (covers)
Charlie Benante - Silver Linings (covers)
Destruction – Live Attack (live)
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Books
Frank Bello - Fathers and Sons
Jay Jay French - Twisted Business
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